I am chartered accountant.

Do not be deceived there is a great future.

Abudu2000:
maybe for those outdated business men but what would I deposit that I can't transfer? Many business have adopted the use of pos. Even this less crowd in banking hall have made bank robbery to seem kind of easy for robbers. so you going to a bank now is much more risky than before...

Alright, if you say so but not all banking halls are seemingly empty. A lot of people still go to banks

Make it plain, who js future? God is future. You cannot as at now start asking what the future holds for a chartered accountant. My dear Chartered or not chartered, na God de hold future. Do what you gonna do and leave the rest for God.

Jerryojozy:
Without the ethics, standards and procedures you are wasting your time operating the software. Besides accounting has many branches such as audit, management, taxation etc. Haven't seen a software that audit a company.


Genius J

okay. Well said. But am confused here so let me ask you a question.

As an Economist, Cost is what we take into much consideration when working. Assuming, i hired a guy from any field and gave him the required training that he needs to handle some basic accounting at my firm Using "softwares". At the end he is capable of doing it perfectly as my firm wants, and also the cost i incurred has been relatively Cheap compared to if i had hired a chattered. Will i then still Consider hiring a Chattered or use my Software trained Accountant or will i advice a fellow business owner like me to go for Chattered? Since the Software trained account can still do what a chattered would . Considering Cost effectiveness.

miteolu:
I am chartered accountant.

Do not be deceived there is a great future.

A classic example of the importance of a comma (,).

Do you mean :
1. Do not be deceived, there is a great future (Good Scenario)

Or

2. Do not be deceived there is a great future (Bad Scenario).

Please clarify

xpizzy:
It might interest you to know that Nigeria has < 50,000 (Dead and Living) Chartered Accountants to a population of 200 million Nigerians. So is the future of the profession bright? I'd leave you to decide

You know children form major part of that 200 million and I don't think children need accountants!

benuejosh:
okay. Well said. But am confused here so let me as you a question.

As an Economist, Cost is what we take into much consideration when working. Assuming, i hired a guy from any field and gave him the required training that he needs to handle some basic accounting at my firm Using "softwares". At the end he is capable of doing it perfectly as my firm wants, and also the cost i incurred has been relatively Cheap compared to if i had hired a chattered. Will i then still Consider hiring a Chattered or use my Software trained Accountant or will i advice a fellow business owner like me to go for Chattered? Since the Software trained account can still do what a chattered would . Considering Cost effectiveness.

well, from your write up you said basic accounting. I believe that basic accounting you are talking about is 'financial accounting' you can employ him base on that basic accounting but mind you there is more to accounting.


Genius J

Abdul4trust1:
To The Professional Accountants In The House. I Want To Know What The Future Hold For Potential Chartered Accountants And Newly Qualified Accountants In Nigeria In Terms Of Getting A Job As well As The Pay? Lalasticlala Help Me Take This To The Promised Land Because I've Keen Interest In This And Thanks In Anticipation.

There is an interesting future for chartered accountants in Nigeria. However you have to decide whether you want to be in employment or you want to be an employer of labour or be as relevant as possible to the immediate and larger economy. Technology,especially the internet, has changed our thought and most accountants are not in tune with this reality. You can use your skill on this platform (internet) in various ways to survive. With your knowledge in finance you can learn and leverage on new skills to be relevant. You can raise a blog or website to teach some subjects you know perfectly well. You can import ACCA/CIMA?CISA materials for those who need it and raise an online bookshop for that. You can write books on how to treat miscellaneous accounts which are not available locally,that is if you are sound in them. You can also be a consultant and bookkeeper to small medium companies and enterprises.

I am also preparing for my ICAN final and i tell you i have directed my strenght to blogging and trading international financial derivatives online through trading platforms. When i lost my job, i fell back on these and seriously it is paying well. My next project is a standard bakery which i intend to start in January 2018 God's Willing. There are many accountants like us who have branched off practice to have a larger impact on the economy.

The Nigerian economy is underserved in our profession partly because only few of them get paid well and the larger majority survive on the grace of God. The accounting profession will continue to have relevance for a long time to come. Wishing you goodluck.

Nutase:
Space

Olodo...lol. funny u

Bro Ops, nice question but with little foresight, Accounting and Accountancy as a profession is bigger than any other profession or career you can ever dream of.
Hope you know all relevant career path available to you as an accountant are limitless, only a less competent accounting graduate will have doubt about his or her success in this field not to talk of being a chartered accountant who are less than 50000 person in the whole of Nig with a population of 180m ( do the ratio ) and if you want to know, 70% of all chartered accountant are based in Lagos, create your niche bro.
Stay blessed

Sezua:
Do softwares run themselves? Accounting has moved beyond merely recording transactions.

Absolutely

Laird:
This is just my opinion; There will be less private Sector accounting Jobs in the Future because of avallable Automation accounting software and data/ numbers processing and analysis software.

You can still choose to study accounting if You wish sha

But dont you feel the accounting principles will set in to affect - non-accounting background candidate dat takes up the job?

Artificial intelligence is affecting all sorts of industries, and accounting is no exception. After years of working closely with professional accountants and providing them with advice on tech and cybersecurity, I’m noticing a growing trend among them: They're utilizing bots and AI in their professional routines.

Some accounting practices are starting to implement such advanced technology to streamline their operations. The general outcome that they are perceiving is saving time, reducing costs, increasing productivity and providing better accuracy. This means this is hardly a trend that will fade anytime soon, so it’s better to catch up with it now rather than later.

Different from the times when cloud technology was unknown territory for most accounting professionals, the industry players are now fully adapted to implementing new tech into their routines, and the adoption of AI is happening at a much faster pace.

Yet what really amazes me isn’t just the benefits bots and AI are bringing to the accounting scene -- it’s how these benefits are being brought to it. There are many structural changes happening in the operational trenches, especially regarding administrative procedures.

For instance, one of the most noticeable changes is affecting compliance, which is seeing the way data is handled and processed become completely automated. This is enabling accounting pros to get reliable and fast data included in every tax report they generate. Automated data entry is now the rule for those after maximum efficiency.

In a similar vein, data categorization is also being strongly affected by AI. Bots are now able to determine and categorize all information into different accounts by themselves, which means artificial intelligence is already delivering solo performances in the field. For instance, bots can tell and organize data coming from the same source into different categories, so if you have a monthly subscription phone bill and a purchased phone bill coming from the same phone carrier, the bots will automatically understand that they have different natures and will set them under different chart of accounts. Machine learning is also observable since these bots can learn from various human input to make better judgments and to adapt to accounting professionals’ behavior patterns.

Another administrative aspect that I can see going through some major changes due to AI is the way accounting firms are internally organized. As it stands right now, administrative jobs are slowly becoming scarcer, and even some operational tasks traditionally performed by accountants, such as dedicated accounts payable and accounts receivable ones, are already being performed by AI. This is providing better performance and enhanced cost management for firms.

The procedural changes that AI is bringing might eventually spark some controversy about how secure things really are with this transition, but since accounting professionals will still remain as the final approvers of all the tasks performed by the AI, they will keep control of any sensitive information they want. As long as they have everything backed up to the cloud, they are good to go.


But what’s most likely the biggest impact I’m seeing AI bring to the accounting world is the shift in the accountants’ mindset. These professionals are becoming so tech savvy and open to new technology that it's actually refreshing. This is something that this field really needed for a long time, and I’m glad the winds are now blowing this way.

I can clearly see that this new wave of innovation is continuously hitting the industry shores, and improvements will continue to be implemented. Once they have a taste of the disruptive benefits that tech can bring, they won’t ever consider stopping. It’s a virtuous habit to have, and the results are prominently tangible for those who embrace it.

Most accounting professionals that get back to me today are aware of many of the latest trends on the market, including bots and AI. They are either using advanced tech or are considering it for their daily activities. They are using artificial intelligence to assist them not because they have to, but because they want to.

However, although AI is already drilling its way into the accounting industry, it’s not been fully adopted quite yet. For that to happen, there must be a singular tool or event to officially disrupt the traditional of handling manual data. New innovative tools will continue to pop up, and accounting pros will keep a good pace when it comes to trying them out until they become the standard. Without a doubt, the accounting industry has a bright future ahead.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/07/20/how-ai-is-reshaping-the-accounting-industry/#6d5dbdc037f3

Sezua:
Do softwares run themselves? Accounting has moved beyond merely recording transactions.

@Sezua... I concur

but pls share abit more abt ur experience on the job as I can make use of ur exposure in the accounting feild for any accounting job opportunity during interview.

Take a deep breath.

Robots are NOT going to replace all human accountants or bookkeepers (at least not anytime soon).

White-collar workers who are part of the knowledge economy are beginning to experience what manual laborers have in the past when new technology made their jobs obsolete. Given the improvements we have recently seen in computing, many professionals fear for their future as machines threaten to overtake them.

Rather than fear changes that machine learning will have on accounting tasks, it’s an opportunity for accounting professionals to be excited. The profession is going to become more interesting as repetitive tasks shift to machines. There will be changes, but those changes won’t completely eliminate the need for human accountants, they will just alter their contributions.


Let’s take a look at how machine learning will change accounting.

What is machine learning?

Machine learning is the leading edge of artificial intelligence (AI). It’s a subset of AI where machines can learn by using algorithms to interpret data from the world around us to predict outcomes and learn from successes and failures. As machines infiltrate accounting tasks to take over the more mundane and repetitive tasks, it will free up accountants and bookkeepers to spend more time using their professional knowledge to analyze and interpret the data to provide recommendations for their clients.

Machine learning will propel innovation in accounting

When accounting software companies eliminated desktop support in favor of cloud-based services, accounting firms were forced to adapt to life in the cloud. Similarly, accounting departments and firms will be forced to adopt machine learning to remain competitive since machines can deliver real-time insights, enhance decision making and catapult efficiency.

Accounting tasks that machines can learn to do

Rather than eliminate the human workforce in accounting firms, the humans will have new colleagues—machines—who will pair with them to provide more efficient and effective services to clients. Currently, there is no machine replacement for the emotional intelligence requirements of accounting work, but machines can learn to perform redundant, repeatable and oftentimes extremely time-consuming tasks. Here are some of the possibilities:


Auditing of expense submissions: Machines could learn a company’s expense policy, read receipts and audit expense claims to ensure compliance and only identify and forward questionable claims to humans for approval. Otherwise, machines could handle the bulk of this task.

Clear invoice payments: Today, when customers submit payment that might combine multiple invoices or that don’t match any invoices in the accounting system, it’s time-consuming for accounts receivable staff to apply payment correctly without making a call to the client or trying to determine the right combination of invoices. However, smart machines could analyze the possible invoices and can match the paid amount to the right combination of invoices, clear out short payments or automatically generate an invoice to reflect the short payment without any human intervention.

Risk assessment: Machine learning could facilitate risk assessment mapping by pulling data from every project a company had ever completed to compare it to a proposed project. This very comprehensive assessment would be impossible for humans to do on this scale and under a similar timeline.

Analytics calculation: The accounting department is continuously barraged with questions similar to, “What was our revenue for this product in third quarter last year?” or “How has this division grown over the last 10 years?” Given the data, machines can learn to answer these questions very quickly.

Siri-type interface for business finance: Pegg, an app that works with the messaging app, Slack, is already showing what’s possible in terms of creating invoices, responding to questions about revenue projections and status of expense accounts. This app as well as other conversational interfaces have huge potential to disrupt accounting and make some tasks as simple as chatting.

Automated invoice categorization: Accounting software firm Xero is deploying a machine learning automation system that will be able to learn over time how to categorize invoices, something that currently requires accountants to do manually.

Bank reconciliation: Machines can learn how to completely automate bank reconciliations.

As accounting firms and departments begin to rely more heavily on machines to do the heavy lifting of calculating, reconciliations and responding to inquiries from other team members and clients about balances and verifying info, accountants and bookkeepers will be able to deliver more value to their clients and handle more clients than ever before.

It is high time for every accountant to reflect on their job, identify the opportunities machine learning could offer to them, and focus less on the tarks that can be automated and more on those inherently human aspects of their jobs.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/07/07/machine-learning-artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-accounting/#211b9d22dd12

Ojisik:

A classic example of the importance of a comma (,).

Do you mean :
1. Do not be deceived, there is a great future (Good Scenario)

Or

2. Do not be deceived there is a great future (Bad Scenario).

Please clarify

There is wonderful future.

Accounting is a versatile course and the mistake many accountants make is not to develop along with it. Forensic is an emerging field that only a few know about

Laird:
This is just my opinion; There will be less private Sector accounting Jobs in the Future because of avallable Automation accounting software and data/ numbers processing and analysis software.

You can still choose to study accounting if You wish sha

You have no idea what accounting is. if you don't know something ask people? Go to job websites and see the hottest jobs advertised daily. After marketing comes accounting. You think that you will just put information and a software will start distributing it into different headings. There is judgment as to how you treat every items. Who will produce all the notes to the financial statements? What about the accounting standards and policies? What about regulatory requirements? What about internal management policies (the secret cults). What about valuation and correction of prior errors? You think accounting is all about book keeping?

Abdul4trust1:
To The Professional Accountants In The House. I Want To Know What The Future Hold For Potential Chartered Accountants And Newly Qualified Accountants In Nigeria In Terms Of Getting A Job As well As The Pay? Lalasticlala Help Me Take This To The Promised Land Because I've Keen Interest In This And Thanks In Anticipation.

Truth bin told, the salary gap is much btw non chartered accountants and chartered accountants even doe we do the same task. Due to this, am currently undergoing the programme.it is highly advisable.

afilaka:


Truth bin told, the salary gap is much btw non chartered accountants and chartered accountants even doe we do the same task. Due to this, am currently undergoing the programme.it is highly advisable.

thank You

This automation tools you people talk about. Are they not SAP, SAGE, Peace-trees, etc? You don't show papers to them and they start posting them for you; you post into them. They don't know whether you should credit them or debit them; it is you that use your judgment to debit or credit. They don't know when you have made a mistake; it is still you that will come later to see that you have made a mistake.
All these software only replace papers, simple. They can't even do the book keeping for you.
Even the recurring things they cannot do. Don't even call them automation tools; call databases.

Op go ahead and read the course you love. Accounting is a very lucrative course. Then going further to have a professional qualification like ICAN & ACCA are super super super advantages.

Those people saying Accounting has been automated and now an all comers affair have small minds...their thought process is so limited.

Let me use ICAN for instance. the current membership of inducted Chartered Accountants is less than 40,000. ACCA holders in Nigeria are even less than ICAN. Opportunities for Accountants are everywhere. its just for people to open their eyes and observe. Information is key in getting the lucrative jobs.

The Chartered Accountant who earns 30k today but builds his experience can hit it big tomorrow in a bigger firm. You can go from 30k to =N=2M Monthly hence you build your experience. I am a Chartered Accountant. I earned less than 150k for a long time, but when I got the big job in oil and gas, everything changed. it can be you too OP.

segzie2012:


@Sezua... I concur

but pls share abit more abt ur experience on the job as I can make use of ur exposure in the accounting feild for any accounting job opportunity during interview.

I have very little experience on the job, and i'm about to tow the path of becoming chartered.
For now, posting using accounting software is done by accountants.
With regards to accounting moving beyond merely recording and accounting as it was previously know reporting as the way and manner financial activities are being reported now have changed significantly from how it was done 10 years ago.
New accounting standards are being released everyday and existing ones are being updated.
Even if accounting softwares take up accounting job, there would need to be at least one, two or more accountants(depending on the size of the firm) to oversee the softwares. Also, the accounts made with the aid of the software would still need to be audited by humans.
People who jump to conclusions like 'softwares would take over' usually don't know jack about the accounting profession.
PS; Softwares might reduce the number of accountants employed by firms tho.

Abdul4trust1:
To The Professional Accountants In The House. I Want To Know What The Future Hold For Potential Chartered Accountants And Newly Qualified Accountants In Nigeria In Terms Of Getting A Job As well As The Pay? Lalasticlala Help Me Take This To The Promised Land Because I've Keen Interest In This And Thanks In Anticipation.

The pride of being a chartered accountant shall give you confidence to demand anything and speak confidently wherever you find yourself.

benuejosh:
okay. Well said. But am confused here so let me as you a question.

As an Economist, Cost is what we take into much consideration when working. Assuming, i hired a guy from any field and gave him the required training that he needs to handle some basic accounting at my firm Using "softwares". At the end he is capable of doing it perfectly as my firm wants, and also the cost i incurred has been relatively Cheap compared to if i had hired a chattered. Will i then still Consider hiring a Chattered or use my Software trained Accountant or will i advice a fellow business owner like me to go for Chattered? Since the Software trained account can still do what a chattered would . Considering Cost effectiveness.

That's called Bookkeeping. Any bookkeeper can do that. Pls don't confuse a Chartered Accountant with a Bookkeeper.

chronique:
Well, I think chartered accountants in Nigeria should start learning new skills as the market is quite saturated. I noticed this as far back as 2007/08 when I was still writing my ACCA(which I had to leave partially to go hustle). I noticed there were too many chartered accountants around me then, who had the misfortune of earning peanuts just to survive(although, most of them were ICAN chartered). The trend then, was for any accounting student, to register for ICAN/ACCA but very few companies could absorb all the ACAs coming out. Most of them ended up in small audit firms. I know a guy who used to earn 30k then, and was working on the island, and was married with kids...

I intend to go back to finish my ACCA just so I can have the certificate but not necessarily to use it in looking for a job. Most chartered accountants end up as auditors and to be sincere, I do not like the auditing part of financial accounting cos I see it as boring. Chartered accountants should look at getting other skills.

Aim for top companies e.g pharmaceutical, insurance, NGO... They pay accountants well. I have a friend who earns up to 500k as an accountant in an NGO, this guy no chartered o, had pass in his diploma. Na experience though cos he has worked with top companies... Talk about being lucky with any connection.

It is very good to be Chartered but awesome when you have connection to back you up get to the promise land.
It is bad that if you were already working in some organization before you qualify, they won't regard it, NOT ALL COMPANIES!
they take it that they employed you as so so and so not as a chartered Accountant and since you have bills to pay, you got to hold
it pending when another offer comes which might take a very long time.

Those in private practice are not even smiling because the jobs are not there.
Most Accounting firms apart from the BIG 4 pay peanuts.

I have decided to do more IT wise in addition to the ACA certificate, I think it will yield a better result.
Above all, it is an HONOUR and RESPECT being a Chartered Accountant, I can tell you!

GOOD LUCK fellow potential members.... IF I CAN, YOU CAN!

Emeka71:
The pride of being a chartered accountant shall give you confidence to demand anything and speak confidently wherever you find yourself.

Exactly. It's why I asked him earlier where his passion lies. If Accountancy is his forte, this post wouldn't be created in the first place. If there's no knack and he ends up taking up accounting at the professional level, I see him selling himself short in future interviews.

No point engaging in a profession you have no real confidence in. As such, it'll be futile trying to convince him of what it really is.

chronique:
Well, I think chartered accountants in Nigeria should start learning new skills as the market is quite saturated. I noticed this as far back as 2007/08 when I was still writing my ACCA(which I had to leave partially to go hustle). I noticed there were too many chartered accountants around me then, who had the misfortune of earning peanuts just to survive(although, most of them were ICAN chartered). The trend then, was for any accounting student, to register for ICAN/ACCA but very few companies could absorb all the ACAs coming out. Most of them ended up in small audit firms. I know a guy who used to earn 30k then, and was working on the island, and was married with kids...

I intend to go back to finish my ACCA just so I can have the certificate but not necessarily to use it in looking for a job. Most chartered accountants end up as auditors and to be sincere, I do not like the auditing part of financial accounting cos I see it as boring. Chartered accountants should look at getting other skills.

you don't like to make money then @ bolded. You should not complain about 30k since you love what you are doing and are not ready to do what earns more because I is boring

In Nigeria the 15-64 age group form over 54% of Nigeria's population distribution. Get your facts right

homesteady:


You know children form major part of that 200 million and I don't think children need accountants!

chronique:
Well, I think chartered accountants in Nigeria should start learning new skills as the market is quite saturated. I noticed this as far back as 2007/08 when I was still writing my ACCA(which I had to leave partially to go hustle). I noticed there were too many chartered accountants around me then, who had the misfortune of earning peanuts just to survive(although, most of them were ICAN chartered). The trend then, was for any accounting student, to register for ICAN/ACCA but very few companies could absorb all the ACAs coming out. Most of them ended up in small audit firms. I know a guy who used to earn 30k then, and was working on the island, and was married with kids...

I intend to go back to finish my ACCA just so I can have the certificate but not necessarily to use it in looking for a job. Most chartered accountants end up as auditors and to be sincere, I do not like the auditing part of financial accounting cos I see it as boring. Chartered accountants should look at getting other skills.

True talk
I want to resign but don't know how to resign?
Am tired of accounting work.

Acquire new skills along with accounting to remain relevant. Forensic Accounting for instance is still vibrant. Mergers/acquisitions is another specilist field. You can also diversify into stockbroking and investments among others.

Yes, automation may reduce job availability but one can still be creative to succeed in a developing economy like ours.

I think young accountants should look into training of SMEs on Financial Management at a reasonable cost to create awareness. Most businesses fail or do not outlive their owners due to ignorance in managing their finances. It's time to stop the 'na me get my money' mentality. It slowly destroys businesses and has a long term negative impact on the economy. This really is a job for accountants to handle with the cooperation of market associations and cooperatives.

Even if one decides not to build an accounting career, the knowledge is useful in home management and daily living.